Grand Duke Heathfenrir went to the highest point of the area and forced as much air into his lungs as possible. He pulled both fists back and then punched into the air with all his might.
"Sparrow hunt!"
Wham!
Two streams of aura slashed through the darkness. The beams of light crashed into five of the flying shadow creatures, two of which took the blow directly and melted into nothing. The other three lost half of their mass and fluttered around before careening to the ground. When the other forces took care of the rest, the demonic monsters crumbled to ash and dispersed.
"Wow!"
"Thank God for our grand duke!"
"Hip hip hooray, Grand Duke Heathfenrir!"
The knights excitedly praised Grand Duke Heathfenrir, which served as a huge motivator.
"I'll take care of the remaining ones, Father!"
"Sounds good, Elthea!"
Elthea, an expert supreme, supported her father by shooting a spear-like burst of aura, destroying two additional demons. The number of shadow raptors dropped to six after the father-daughter attack combo, but the remaining creatures were persistent. When another volley of aura and spears flew through the sky, the shadow raptors were able to successfully dodge them.
Unfortunately, Grand Duke Heathfenrir's accuracy dropped significantly with aerial attacks because, despite the distance he could cover, he could only strike in one direction. Moreover, the move demanded such a significant amount of aura that it drained the grand duke quickly, which meant the father-daughter combo defeated only one additional shadow raptor before they reached their limit.
Now, there were five left. Without Grand Duke Heathfenrir's constant barrage of aura cannons, the shadow raptors could finally prepare their own attack. They all stretched their mouths open wide as if they had been waiting for this moment. Dark flames began to form in the abyss of their throats as they released terrible shrieks into the air.
"Not this!"
"N-No!"
The fire in the plaza would quickly get out of hand if all the beasts attacked at once, and there were still citizens nearby who hadn't managed to run away yet. The knights held their breath and widened their bloodshot eyes, while the citizens screamed with despair.
"O-Oh dear lord!"
"Please save us!"
The citizens of the duchy called out for salvation, praying fervently. Since the establishment of the Church of Saint Agnes, they had recently strengthened their religious belief, however they were still surprised when their prayers were answered just in time. The calm voice of a woman split the air.
"Divine Retribution."
Thunder and lightning reacted to the voice of their master as ten bolts of light drew bright lines through the night sky. The shadow raptors screeched as they were struck by the attack, fluttering like torn sheets of paper as they desperately flapped their wings to regain their balance. But they were not given any time to recover. Seven aura blades flew through the air at calculated angles, the space ringing with the shrieks of the monsters every time a spark of light tore through them.
"Ahhh!"
The last tattered shadow raptor dropped lifelessly out of the sky, though it didn't ever hit the ground. An aura blade mercilessly pierced its body and within a matter of seconds, the monster was purged in an explosion.
All of a sudden, the aura blades that were whipping around wildly returned to a single location, flying up to the roof of a three-story building where there stood a swordswoman with her pink hair fluttering in the air. Everyone instantly recognized her.
"Baby?"
"Allie?"
"Division commander?"
"Sister?"
"Sis?"
"Your Eminence?"
Everyone addressed her by a different name, but they were all referring to the same person.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I was held back because I had to make a stop somewhere."
Ailette Rodeline. She was back.
"Allie!"
"Ailette!"
Ailette's friends and family shouted her name again, their voices laced with both resentment at her late arrival and relief at seeing that she had returned safe and sound.
Elthea and Grand Duke Heathfenrir both gazed at Ailette as their green eyes widened. Following the swords hovering behind Ailette with their dilated pupils, they each murmured something similar.
"My daughter, she's..."
"My granddaughter she's..."
Then, completing their sentences together, they shouted, "An aura master!"
They were pleased Ailette had finally come home, regardless of the reason for her delay, yet they never imagined she would return as an aura master. Neither of them could verbalize the awe they felt in their hearts, when the situation suddenly took a turn.
Whoosh!
The vortex of the gate started swirling rapidly, which everyone knew was a sign that something dangerous was going to emerge. Not a minute later, a figure slid out of the gate. It was a male demon wearing a cloak cast around his shoulders and a fedora atop his blonde hair.
"Whew."
The gentleman tapped the ground with his cane and inhaled from a lit cigar as he surveyed the scene before him. His low and slightly raspy tone matched the world-weariness in the bags under his eyes, his voice ringing as he called out, "I came to look for my darling birds."
The master of the space beyond the gate had appeared in the human world.
â
â¬Â«System» Warning. Walpurgis Night has begun.â
â¬Â«System» Warning. Demon Realm Rank 175 [Nazril Wizderoon the Slave Merchant] has appeared in the Human Realm.â
â¬Â«System» Warning. Demon Realm Effect on the entire city has been expedited due to the arrival of Walpurgis Night and the presence of an SS-class boss.â
Nazril hopped onto a roof so that he could speak to me at eye level.
"Apologies for the late introduction. I'm Nazril, the head merchant of the Wizderoon Merchant's Association and a sponsor of Walpurgis Night." He removed his hat to reveal blonde hair so full and glorious it resembled the mane of a lion. He was polite, but the vertical slits of his pupils and the red irises around them betrayed his true nature. He glared at me sharply as he continued, "You seem to be the strongest amongst these humans. What is your name?"
"Ailette Rodeline, the Divine Emissary."
"Hmm, you must be the Executioner of Evil that Lord Karpeios mentioned before."
"You demons seem to have given me that nickname without my consent."
"So I guessed right." Nazril took another drag from his cigar as he said, "I heard those you kill cannot be resurrected."
With a curt nod, I suggested, "Run if you're afraid."
"Afraid? No. I'm excited."
Demonic energy seeped out of Nazril's body, causing the rising air current to flip his messy blonde hair upward. With his hair suspended around his head, the already-tall demon looked like he had been inflated in size, prompting a wave of horrified gasps to erupt from the onlookers as they winced in the face of his oppressive presence. That was when a voice whispered in my ear.
«Don't be afraid, Ailette. He's just a little bit stronger than Leviathion,» Agnes reminded me gently.
My eyes reflexively dropped to the cross pendant on my chest. "Afraid?" I asked incredulously. "More importantly, when did you return?"
«Just now.»
"Welcome back, Agnes," I greeted as I gave the pendant a light squeeze with my left hand, delighted to have my mentor return to me.
Just then, Nazril's grating voice scratched against my eardrums. "Did you know that I'm a slave merchant? Now... I'm quite curious... I wonder how much I can make if I supply the black market with a Divine Emissary," he mused with a smirk as he playfully swung his cane around his wrist.
While I merely snickered at his completely ineffective provocation, Agnes had a different response.
«Destroy him, Ailette,» she barked with a chilling voice.
Before I could reply, a chorus of familiar voices called out to me.
"Allie!"
"Division commander!"
My grandfather, mother, and the members of my knight division called out my name, wordlessly letting me know that they were there to fight by my side whenever I was ready. I had no doubt each of them would carry out their role seamlessly if I needed them, but that wasn't the strategy I had in mind.
Glancing at the ongoing battle below me, I looked back up at Nazril and exclaimed to my team, "Continue with what you were doing."
"What? Honey?"
"Division commander?"
That was when I revealed the strategy.
"I will entertain him alone."
Boom!
An explosive sound burst beneath me as my legs, infused with the Force of a Queen, launched my body across the roof.
"I guess I won't need to check the condition of the product," murmured Nazril as he held his cigar out in front of his nose and tapped it.
The end of his cigar instantly scattered into ash and fire in the air as a bright red ember was hurled in my direction. But such a move couldn't faze me. My seven aura blades immediately reacted and protected me from the attack, which resulted in an explosion of white streaks and sparks against burning red balls of fire.
"Damn... So that's what an aura master can do."
"Sis is unbelievable."
I could just make out Ephael and Ash's commentary from below. Noticing how my speed wasn't decreasing as I approached, Nazril realized that his attacks weren't working and implemented a far more demonic move.
"Then what about this?"
He swung his hand with the cigar, which formed more fireballs across a larger area. But this time, I wasn't his target.
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Okay embarrassing note, so I just realized I could download a webpage text extractor and copy and paste it... I swear I'm not dumb. I'll redo the previous chapters sometime